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You probably recognise these famous lines. That, after all, is the whole point of a slogan: it should get across the main thing that you want people to remember about you.

A slogan is the distilled version of what you mean to your customers. If yours is easy to recognise and has some creative bite, it will give buyers something to think about until they next encounter your brand.

Whether you try to develop your slogan yourself, or call for outside help (from us, we hope), there are a number of things that you should keep in mind.

Good slogans are...

1. Memorable

It is vital that your slogan finds its way into your customers’ subconscious, to make sure they remember if they like you, and why.

2. Simple

In order to be memorable, your slogan should get one simple idea across in as few words as possible. You can’t mean everything to everybody, so just focus on one specific thing.

3. Creative

Once you know what you want to say, to make it memorable you should say it in an interesting way. It can take a lot of creative thinking and wordplay to come up with something that works well.

4. Meaningful

Why do customers choose your product or service and not someone else’s? What do they gain from buying it? Your slogan should convey this differentiation.

5. Positive

It almost goes without saying that your slogan should leave people with a warm feeling about your brand. Put smiles on their faces.

6. Credible

At the same time, remember that your customers won’t buy into your slogan if you purport to be something that you are not, or if the words you use sound overblown or pretentious.

7. Workable

Does your slogan aid creativity or limit it? Test-drive some campaign ideas to make sure your line will be effective in context. And make sure it sounds right when you say it out loud.

8. Yours alone

Make sure your slogan is unmistakeably about your brand and no one else’s. You can force the association by including your company or product name in the line itself, and by using words that reflect the distinctive personality of your brand.

At Resonates we use a number of creative techniques to develop powerful slogans for our clients, but the process that we follow begins with logical strategic thinking.